The district administration will recommended to the State government subsidy for a wholesale vegetable market proposed at Thirumalaiyampalayam.
Coimbatore District Collector Kranthi Kumar Pati met the vegetable traders and farmers on Wednesday at the site where the market is planned. He said that of the total ₹41 crore project cost, the government will give 15% as subsidy. It will also give 15% of the guideline value for that area as subsidy for land cost.
The project, when implemented, will reduce the transport time for wholesale traders selling vegetables to Kerala. With time restrictions for movement of heavy vehicles in Coimbatore city, the traders face losses in moving vehicles to Kerala from here.
The State government announced subsidy in the budget last year for wholesale vegetable markets to be set up at three places close to Kerala - Kanyakumari, Theni, and Coimbatore. The Coimbatore project is a model that the other two places can emulate, he said.
M. Rajendran, president of the TK Market Vegetable Traders’ Association, said the market planned at Thirumalaiyampalayam will receive nearly 100 loads of vegetables a day and 600 lorries will move in and out of the market every day. It will be open 24 hours a day. The average size of each stall at the market will be 3,500 sq.ft and it will also have a warehouse and rooftop solar panels.
About 80 wholesale vegetable traders from the MGR market and TK market here have purchased almost 10 acres to set up the market.
“The Collector suggested that we register as a society to get the subsidy. If flyover works start at Saibaba temple junction, the MGR market will be affected. So, there is an urgent need to start functioning from the new market. Hence, we have appealed to the Collector to grant approvals for the new market at the earliest,” he said. The traders also sought widening of Reddigoundanur Road and a link bridge between the market and the Coimbatore - Kerala Highways road.
